Air India and Air Mauritius on Monday announced expanding their codeshare partnership that will provide enhanced connectivity for India with South Africa, Reunion and Madagascar through Mauritius.
Restricting air access to foreign carriers by not granting them more bilateral rights is akin to shooting yourself in the foot, as air transport is a wealth multiplier for India's economy, Emirates President Tim Clark said during a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association.
IndiGo will start direct flights to a total of 10 international destinations, including London and Athens, in the current financial year, its CEO Pieter Elbers said on Friday. Other destinations include Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Manchester (the UK), Copenhagen (Denmark) Siem Reap (Cambodia) and four places in Central Asia.
The airline plans to scale up its operations at NMIA significantly, from 36 air traffic movements (ATMs) daily on the opening day to 79 daily departures (158 ATMs), including 14 international departures by November this year.
International passenger traffic has grown by 5.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year, reflecting "strong economic prospects" in India and China, the International Air Transport Association.
Embraer sees a lot of opportunities in India in the commercial and business jets as well as military aircraft and eVTOL segments, its CEO Francisco Gomes Neto has said as the Brazilian seeks to strengthen its foot print in the fast growing Indian market. Besides, the company is in talks with IndiGo and Air India to explore the possibility of selling its E-2 aircraft, which can have up to 146 seats.
'They are saying that there is a pilot shortage which is not correct, but if it was true, did they suddenly come to know this on December 5?' 'If they didn't have crew, why did they seek approval for a winter schedule? To get the approval, the operator has to show crew strength and also a buffer of crew available.' 'If they had a crew crunch, why did they ask for extra flights? Or was it something else that made them so sure that they would get away with this exemption and bans?'
Air India has ordered 470 aircraft to serve the Indian economy and is set to receive a new aircraft every six days over the next 18 months, CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on Friday. He was speaking at the 67th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines here. "We have new aircraft, we are recruiting many, many new crew and staff, improving the training regime and there is more work to do and we are making good progress," he said.
In 100 days from Friday, paper air tickets would be history as airlines across the world move to 100 per cent e-ticketing from June 1, 2008, a target many in the travel world initially thought would be difficult to meet.
Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of International Air Transport Association, said Delhi and Mumbai airports were one of the worst contributors to the crisis, for their 207 per cent hike in charges. "There is no room for this nonsense in our future. When demand drops, suppliers cannot divide the same costs among fewer customers. The shape of everything must change," he declared.
The International Air Transport Association on Tuesday criticised the increase in airport development charges imposed by Mumbai and New Delhi, saying the burden on the already beleaguered global airline industry is a 'wake up call' for the Indian government.
The government has decided to restart scheduled international flight services from March 27 after a two years hiatus due to COVID-19, according to civil aviation ministry officials.
Painting a gloomy picture, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Friday said the Indian aviation industry is estimated to suffer a collective loss of $1.5 billion in 2009, with Air India accounting for most of it.
The GST rate is 5 per cent and 12 per cent on economy and business class tickets, respectively
The most significant growth was recorded by carriers in the Asia-Pacific and West Asian regions at 5.9 per cent and 12.9 per cent respectively. Carriers in these regions captured the vast majority of the global increase (93 per cent).
On the international air traffic front, Asia-Pacific airlines recorded an increase in demand of 5.5 per cent compared to November 2012.
However, while the capacity void in the domestic market has been filled, a vacuum still remains in international connectivity, especially on the India-Europe and onwards route, which was well connected by Jet Airways via the Boeing 777, Airbus A330 aircraft and its hubs in Paris and Amsterdam.
Cash-strapped Air India should be run by professionals even if the government partially off-loads its stake to investors to keep it off-the-ground, a top global aviation professional has said.
Flight cancellations and subsequent grounding of Jet Airways adversely impacted seat capacity in the domestic market which also resulted in fares going up.
Apart from India, only two other countries - Russia (15.5 per cent) and China (14.9 per cent) clocked double digit growth in November
The week is being termed as a 'black week' for the aviation industry.
Given all the risks in the world today, including the political instability, economic uncertainty, public health emergence and terrorism, there is not much buffer to absorb a significant change for the worse in the operating environment
Rising fuel prices, intense competition and inability to pass on spiralling expenses have been negatively impacting the domestic airlines.
In a dramatic turn of events in May 2019, an Emirates aircraft en-route to Dubai was asked to stop while it was taxiing for a take off in Mumbai. The pilot was given no reason and ordered to immediately return to the parking bay. As the aircraft returned to the terminal, two passengers from the first class - Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita - were offloaded by the immigration authorities, who said the duo cannot leave the country. Goyal, founder of Jet Airways, was stunned. The man, who ruled the aviation sector for two and a half decades with an iron hand, did not expect to be offloaded in this fashion.
After 18 months of closure, what really could be salvaged? And the answer sadly is, precious little, Patience, perseverance and plenty of moolah is the way forward even assuming intent is in place, says Anjuli Bhargava.
The Indian government's decision in 2012 to allow foreign direct investment in civil-aviation sector up to 49 per cent has enthused new airlines to launch their operations and capitalise on country's 1.2 billion population, a pre-statement to the Global Aerospace Summit said.
Like Air India, there have been recent cyber attacks on some major airlines, including one in Canada, and a global airlines alliance
The firm, udChalo, is a portal founded by the wards of Army men and it provides for personal travel needs of armed forces, paramilitary forces and their family members.
'The pay cuts have been very tough on those with entire families to support.'
In India currently, Air India, Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite are members of the IOSA and conform to the safety standards set by this audit on a regular basis.
Former Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, says Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal developed his airline's business class mock-ups in utter secrecy inside the garage of his London home.
The Delhi-based airline currently has 13 Airbus A320 aircraft in the fleet and it plans to take another seven (A320 Neo) planes by June 2018.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
'Rather than visiting famous monuments, travellers now prefer "experiential activities" such as biking, trekking/hiking, camping, river rafting, yachting, parasailing and zip lining; safaris and jungle adventures; and wellness holidays to rejuvenate themselves.'
Nearly a decade ago, the first fully electric vehicle (EV) caught fire on the road in the US. It was a model from Tesla, the world's most admired EV maker. A metal fragment punctured the underbelly of the vehicle, penetrating its battery pack, leading to a fire. Indian lawmakers and automakers have had nine years to study the incident (in fact, three Tesla Model Ss caught fire in two months in 2013) but seem to have learnt little.
India has a history of jugaad, and retrofitting vehicles is one such manifestation of the legendary Indian skill. Not so long ago autorickshaws and small Marutis used to strap on subsidised LPG cylinders and power themselves to a cheap ride. There were the odd explosions, lives were lost, but the jugaad continued. Then compressed natural gas (CNG) was introduced in Delhi following a court order. Initially, customised CNG kits were fitted to conventional (internal combustion engine or ICE) autos cheaply, enabling commuting at less than half of what you would cough up for diesel. The industry is better organised now with Suzuki and Hyundai designing CNG-fired vehicles, and Mahindra and TVS manufacturing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered three wheelers.
The only two truly successful private airlines in India - Jet Airways and IndiGo - have been set up and run by people who knew the ins and outs of the trade well before they took to the skies.
'Both India and Japan can find themselves in a win-win situation if they draw some lessons from each other's strengths,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
I-T lens on current account deposits over Rs 12.5 lakh. All the news and more post demonetisation.
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